Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

I am working on a project to relaunch the old James E. Pepper brand and wanted to see if anybody had some thoughts on a good distillery to partner with.

We have a ton of amazing and unique marketing materials, and can do extensions of the brand under Oscar Pepper and Elijah Pepper (sort of like Johnny Walker Red, Black and Blue Labels).

So far the feedback from the distilleries I have spoken with has not been great. It would be great to form a long term partnership with a distillery to bring back this historic Kentucky distilling legacy, dating back to 1780.

Re: Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

I am working on a project to relaunch the old James E. Pepper brand and wanted to see if anybody had some thoughts on a good distillery to partner with.

We have a ton of amazing and unique marketing materials, and can do extensions of the brand under Oscar Pepper and Elijah Pepper (sort of like Johnny Walker Red, Black and Blue Labels).

So far the feedback from the distilleries I have spoken with has not been great. It would be great to form a long term partnership with a distillery to bring back this historic Kentucky distilling legacy, dating back to 1780.

Thanks

Umm...last I checked Diageo was still marketing James E Pepper in some areas of the world, Romania IIRC...

I'm assuming you are some sort of industry person, which requires that you have contacted the webmaster prior to posting here as per the user agreement:

Commercial interests are prohibited from posting here except when prior arrangements have been made with Straightbourbon.com management.

2010 Bourbonian of the Year

As long as you have good whiskey you're not "unemployed", you're "Funemployed!!!"

Re: Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

I apologize if I was not supposed to post this here, I am new to the site, and it won't happen again. As a side note however, we have the original grain bill for the Pepper Bourbon, Corn and Rye whiskeys. I have actually been down to the old James E. Pepper distillery and met with the people down there.

Re: Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

And in addition, the reason I am on these forums is to find a partner who makes great Kentucky bourbon and pay homage to these historic brands. If I did not care about respecting the legacy then I would be looking for some cheap blend in a state outside of Kentucky.

Re: Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

Personally any time someone can bring back a historic brand with the same historic mashbill, that's a good thing.

In my experience some folks around here get touchy when they think somebody is trying to use or hoodwink them. Consult the posts on the Knob Creek shortage and Woodford Reserve Four Grain for some examples. I think your statements and questions aroused some suspicion in some folks.

Re: Relaunch of James E. Pepper Bourbon

No problem, Amir. I think the reaction you are getting has to do with the sparseness of the information you have provided. At the top of my list of questions is how did you come to acquire from Diageo the rights to use the Pepper name or names? And what set you on this path? And why Pepper?

For the record, United Distillers (now Diageo) relaunched James E. Pepper bourbon into Eastern Europe in 1994, primarily into the Czech Republic, where it apparently had been popular before WWII.